In multiplayer games that are played over a local area network or the internet, as described in US 2005/0245317 game audio and voice are combined with a pair of headphones during a multiplayer game. More particularly a typical computer game console, such as the Microsoft Xbox™ or Sony PlayStation™, is equipped with a headset that fits over one ear and includes a boom microphone positioned near the player's mouth. The sound of the game is provided via a set of stereo or multichannel audio outputs typically connected to a speaker system or television speakers.
The headset is used for communication in multiplayer computer games so that two or more players can compete against each other via a local network or over the Internet. When players are not located in the same room, verbal interaction in real time is accomplished via the headset with microphone. Multiple players located at different places can participate in the same game by using this type of voice communication system. When the players are in the same room, they may also want to interact verbally with one another. However, if they are wearing headphones that cover both ears, they may not be able to hear each other over the sound of the game audio in the headphones. Consequently, a single-ear headphone with microphone attachment is typically used so that one ear is free to hear communication from other players.
One problem with this form of game play is that the player is limited to hearing the sound of the game with only one ear, since the other ear is covered by the communications earpiece. Thus, for example, positional sound cues are lost because the sound is reduced to a mono signal when listened to with only one ear. This dramatically impacts the overall experience of the game, as compared to experiencing the game sound through a stereo headphone or surround-sound headphone.
A second problem with this form of game play is that the game sound emanating from the speakers is often picked up by the headset microphone, feeding back to the other players who are interacting via voice communication. This prevents the game sound from being turned up too loud, further inhibiting the sonic experience while playing the game.
A third problem with this form of game play is that the game sound in the headphones has a wide dynamic range. In other words, at times a low volume level can rapidly increase to a loud level when, for instance, an explosion or other dynamic event occurs in the game. These loudness dynamics may be sustained for long periods of time, for instance during heated battle in an action game. A consequence of this wide dynamic range is that if the voice communication signals are set for a comfortable volume level during normal game passages, they cannot be heard over the loud game sound when dynamic game passages occur.
A common solution to the problem of listening to game audio via speakers and communicating via a single-ear headset with microphone is to integrate the microphone with a stereo or multichannel headphone so that the voices of other players can be heard along with the game sound using the same headphone. In this way, the game sound can be clearly heard, the voices of other players can be mixed into the game sound at a level separately adjusted from the game sound, and the microphone is isolated from the game sound by virtue of the sound being contained within the headphone ear cups and not emanating into the microphone's pickup area.
One problem with this integrated headphone solution is that the sound of the other player's voices is often unintelligible when the game sounds increase in level, say when the sound of explosions or intense battles occurs. In current manifestations of these headphones, the so-called “chat” volume of other players must constantly be adjusted to accommodate variations in game level, making it necessary for the player to momentarily lose control of the game as the hand moves from the game controller to adjust the chat volume level.
Another problem is that if the voices are sent in equal volume to the left and right ear speakers in stereo headphones, the resulting sound will seem to emanate from the center of the player's head. This makes it difficult to discern the voices from the game sounds, since they are all mixed together on the same lateral plane.
Another problem is that the wired connection between the game controller devices and the headphones can cause an interference signal to enter the ground connection on the headphones, which in the case of wireless headphones can inadvertently cause the wireless signal to either diminish in intensity or disappear altogether due to the overwhelming effect of the digital noise interference entering from the connection between the headphones and the game controller device.
Another problem is caused by the inability of the player to hear his own voice while wearing the headphones, which in turn causes him to speak more loudly than normal in order to compensate for the lack of audible feedback
It is known to control the level of music in headphones or speakers in response to an external sound source. This is the subject of several prior art patents because it is desirable in some circumstances to have the intermittent use of a voice signal override the sound of music or other audio material.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,677, microphones are added to a headphone assembly to detect and mix ambient sounds along with the music being listened to with the headphones. The purpose is to allow users to communicate with each other while wearing headphones. The level of the music is not altered by the ambient sound and the ambient sound is not mixed until it exceeds a preset threshold level.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,011 describes a headphone sound system that turns off the music to a pair of headphones whenever an external sound threshold is exceeded, thereby allowing the listener to interrupt the music whenever an ambient sound exceeds the threshold level. A housing with a microphone and switching circuit connects between the CD player and headphones so that the sound from the CD player is switched to the sound of the microphone whenever the audio threshold is exceeded. While this invention allows someone to hear the voice by shutting off the music, it adversely affects the gaming experience.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,123 relates to a voice override in an amplitude control system for an audio entertainment system which suppresses the music signal so that it may be overridden by a voice signal. This is intended to be utilized as part of a public-address system used for both music and voice communications. Unlike other prior-art systems that provide means to allow the music signal to be abruptly overridden by the voice signal, the voice override circuit in U.S. Pat. No. '123 provides for a gradual attenuation of the music to a predetermined level by the voice signal and a subsequent gradual returning of the music to its normal level upon termination of the voice signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,480 describes a method of improving the intelligibility of speech in environments where the ambient noise level masks or distorts the speaker's voice as it is heard by the listener. This technique does not simply increase the volume level of the voice to override the noise, but instead uses sophisticated signal processing techniques to enhance the speech using transfer functions to alter the sound characteristics in ways that compensate for the ambient noise. The technique modifies the voice gain in response to some property of the filtered and processed signal. Although this technique is most likely effective in improving speech intelligibility in noisy environments, the implementation is too expensive and complicated to implement in a simple gaming headphone apparatus. Although a simple form of speech intelligibility improvement is described as using an automatic gain control block, the envelope control signal of this gain control block is derived from the speech signal, not from the music or game sound source.